Thought I'd post some pics of my coop in case anyone was considering building one of their own.

I've haven't had pigeons in it very long but one of the females is already sitting on a couple eggs so hopefully I'll have some young ones to home to my coop by next spring/summer. It was a lot of fun and the design was pretty efficient so it wasn't too spendy either......hope you get some ideas from this for one of your own!!!

Gettin' started....two sheets of plywood are enough for all four walls.Put 2x4s on the bottom to stengthen the legs and support the floor....Put in a couple 2x4s across the back to support the shelves and put in the floor.....(dauther thought I should turn it into a playhouse!!) Put in the nesting box divider and rest of the supports for the shelves....I subcontracted out the tough stuff..... Cut the doors with the circular saw, added some perches and hinges and then cut them the rest of the way open with a jig saw (much easier that doing hinges on a loose door)....I painted the inside and out while it was open.....(not that it matters that much )I screwed on the top and built the aviary and loaded it with birds.....I put plywood on both sides and and across the top of the aviary so I only had to use one roll of mesh and doors on both sides of the wire cage for easy access......From the door on the right side.....large "bullet feeder and grit container.From the door on the left side.....large galvanized drinker with stand and heater (cord goes out the door in the floor).One happy camper is already sitting on a clutch so we must have done something right with the nesting bowls and pine needles..... Pigeon on the right has feathers on her feet. Not sure what kind she is but she's super friendly so I think we'll keep her.......I'll give ya one guess why there's a brown ring in the grass around the coop......

Don't take these as gospel but this is what I came up with after running a quick tape on my coop.....

(I used 5/8ths plywood)

Walls - Cut from 4x8' sheets (96")

Front - 52"H makes Back - 44"H and 48"W

Sides (cut from same sheet by starting at 52" and cutting at an angle to the 44" mark on the other side)52"H in front and 44"H in back and 48"W

Roof 56" x 48"WFloor 48" x 46 3/4"

Nest boxes -Middle Support for boxes - 14" Deep and 43 1/4" H in front angling down to 41" H in back (cut using side as template for angle)Box platforms - 23 1/2" W by 14" D (Box heights = 14"H)I used 1x4s for supports under each box (on sides and middle support), 2x4s supporting box bottoms in back, 1x4s (or 1x3s) along front of the nest boxes

FrameLegs - 8 foot 2x4s (4 each)Floor/Ceiling support will take four 2x4s

**Update**I have several birds laying eggs/hatching chicks so the coop is working well.....

A couple new additions (#5/#6)

I added a "Settling Cage" per OhioGSP's thread (pieced together from some wire fence I had sitting around) to get my birds oriented to the trap door without having to let them out just yet. They're diggin' it big time......

Here's a pic from their first release away from the coop......

Last edited by Nebraska on Sat May 30, 2009 7:10 pm, edited 13 times in total.

I thought the pic of your pointer looked familiar! I put the door in the bottom so I could push the scrapings into a 5 gallon bucket when it's time to clean. That's also where I have the cord come out for the heated drinker. So far, it's just as easy to scoop the scrapings from the side so skipping the door in the floor wouldn't be a big deal.

The predator door is on there, it's just not easy to see from the pics. In the last pic, you can see that it's closed; and when it's open, it lays on the platform across the top of the aviary...

I just finished a similar coop. I looked at your design and tried to copy it. It was easy to put together but then I had to find some friends to help me move it into place. I painted it with extra paint we had around and left most of the roof white on top.

I put the birds in and they seem to approve, though the dogs won't leave it alone.

Not sure about you but I attached mine to the coop with screws but think I'm going to secure it with some 1/2" bolts once it gets warmer to esure it doesn't go anywhere once we start getting severe T-storms and the heavy Spring winds....

I planted mine in the ground about 18" as well. I just got a new post hole digger for my tractor and I wanted to use it. We have had some pretty strong winds (gusts up to 50mph last week) and it was fine. I have considered legs for the aviary because if we get a huge snow i was worried about the weight. The way I attached the aviary was with screws and when I put the 2x4 on the front where the door to the aviary is I put a strip of plywood behind them so the aviary actually slid on and the 2x4 hold it in place. I don't know if you can see it from the pictures but I can post a picture of it. I did it that way so I didn't need someone to hold it while I screwed it in.

The birds seem to really like the aviary and I am just waiting on some nesting bowls.

I don't remember exactly what I spent or used because it took a few trips to the hardware store but here is a close summary.

4 Sheets of Plywood - 2 for the walls, 1 for roof and misc., 1 for floor and misc (misc being shelves, perches, and aviary) I might have also used some scrap I had.8-10 2x4's - Legs, framing, shelves 6 2x2's - aviary framing1 roll of hardware cloth for aviary5 sets of latches and hinges for doors on coop, aviary, and for door covering bobs1 set of bobs I bought online1 can Kilz1 can extra paint I had laying around or you could buy a screw up can from store

That is all I can think of when I go through what all I bought at the store. Like I said it took me a few trips because I didn't want to over do it and have to take stuff back and there is a big box store down the street.

One word of advise I picked up from the original post was to cut the doors but not all the way and then install the hardware. I read that after I did the first one and you can tell a difference between the doors.

Very nice, I have a question. How do you catch the birds when it's time for training? My coop now is smaller and it seems like I spend almost as much time trying to catch the birds in the coop as do I do using them for training. One word of experience, my dogs love to stand by the coop and catch the pigeon's when they are free flying. The entry door is about 4 1/2 feet off the ground and the dogs have caught 4 pigeons this week.

DoubleB20 wrote:Very nice, I have a question. How do you catch the birds when it's time for training? My coop now is smaller and it seems like I spend almost as much time trying to catch the birds in the coop as do I do using them for training. One word of experience, my dogs love to stand by the coop and catch the pigeon's when they are free flying. The entry door is about 4 1/2 feet off the ground and the dogs have caught 4 pigeons this week.

You won't have pigeons for long as they are smart enough to find a safe place to go plus you are setting your dogs back rapidly as that is exactly what you should be spending your time training them not to do.

Guys,Thanks for the dimensions and list. I just wanted a rough idea of the cost before diving in (aka...knowing if i could sneak it by my wife ) I really like the looks of the one gdog built and the use of the metal studs but where do the dogs return? I prob just couldn't see in the pics.

postoakshorthairs wrote:Guys,Thanks for the dimensions and list. I just wanted a rough idea of the cost before diving in (aka...knowing if i could sneak it by my wife ) I really like the looks of the one gdog built and the use of the metal studs but where do the dogs return? I prob just couldn't see in the pics.

I need to post up a new pic with the return entry. Looking at the front of the coop, I put the door in the side of the aveary on the lft hand side with a platform. It works great.

Ha..funny..that was to try and make the wife happy about the coop "blending" in

Amazing isn't it, we try to pull one over on our wives so we can harbor birds considered a pest by most people in order to walk around in the cold with a furry friend and harrass them. Gotta love america!

I started a coop last fall, built it and populated it with homers from a friend a couple of hours away. I have one side of it with some breeding pairs and the other side with the homers and a few ferals. I kept the homers in for several weeks, then trained them with a temporary aviary (with them using the bobs). I would feed them in the aviary, with the bobs up (see pic below), and just lower a bob each day over the period of a week. They got real familiar with that real quick. I also followed OhioGSP's information as well as some in our local NAVHDA chapter...very good help and information. I was pretty unsure when I released them but they all came back. When I started flying them from farther away I lost several of my ferals, but I kind of expected that. I am now flying them about a mile away (where my training field is) and have lost only about 5 birds (we have a lot of hawks). My breeders are starting to produce so I am hoping production can keep up with the hawks.

Side view with temp aviary:

My automatic waterers. They are bowls that gravity feed from a 55 gal plastic barrel behind the coop. It is all connected with garden host ending up in the bowl. The valve is brass. It has weathered the freezes we have had so far, however they have not been terrible. I am hoping the hose will not burst but just expand, the bowl will not crack as it is rounded, and the valve will not have any issues as it is brass. Hoping....

showing the water barrel:

Inside out looking at the bobs:

Bruce

Last edited by bmacinok on Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:53 am, edited 3 times in total.

I have a question for those of you that have coops. I am about to build my own, but am very concerned about health risks. How do you control mites? I've heard that is one of the major problems with pigeons, the second would be the droppings. Can they cause respiratory problems? How about my dogs, can they contract any illnesses from retrieving these birds? Any info would help.

My coop is painted a brown color to try and blend in with the trees. The pigeons have no problem coming back to it.

As far as droppings are concerned I just scoop them once in a while and put them in a trash bag. I know there is talk of possibly getting a respiratory issue, so I try to keep my mouth covered up when I am scooping.

MadMax wrote:I have a question for those of you that have coops. I am about to build my own, but am very concerned about health risks. How do you control mites? I've heard that is one of the major problems with pigeons, the second would be the droppings. Can they cause respiratory problems? How about my dogs, can they contract any illnesses from retrieving these birds? Any info would help.

For mites a drop of Ivermection under each wing and/or each leg will do the trick. I also put a couple of drops of Ivermectin down the throat for internal parasites. I'm not sure how bmackinok is able to cover his mouth ....so I use a respirator. A dust mask will work but I prefer a little better protection.

I don't know what optimum is for pigeons, but in my coop (the brown one in this thread) I have had up to 50 birds. Right now I have about 30 and they are producing and seem to be doing just fine. All of these birds are homer/roller crosses. I keep my killer feral birds in a temporary cage that is an 8' x 4' x '4 frame using 2" x 4"s and 1/2" x 1" wire, with a tarp over the top and have had about 40 in it. Of course they don't stay there for long...

So when I get my coop built and put some pigeons in, how long should I keep them in before I use them for training so that they return? I plan on getting some birds that are about 100 miles away, will that keep them in my loft?What type of food? regular bird feed? crushed corn?

I transitioned adult birds from someone else's coop, and most of the birds hung around. I did keep them in the coop for a couple of months, then only let them out in the evening right before dark so they would only fly for a bit then come back in to roost. Probably did that for a month then started taking them out further and further to get them used to homing. I did lose a few, just not sure if it was to them not homing or the hawks which we have a lot of.

If you start producing young they will definitely home to your coop.

I would use a pigeon mix from your local feed store. A lot of folks use just whatever, but I found I had problems with cracked corn on the young, seems they can't handle the sharp edges in their craw.

jkoehler wrote:So when I get my coop built and put some pigeons in, how long should I keep them in before I use them for training so that they return? I plan on getting some birds that are about 100 miles away, will that keep them in my loft?What type of food? regular bird feed? crushed corn?

Or you can look for "young Birds". These birds are birds that can eat on thier own but have not been flown yet. That way you only have to wait a few weeks and then start letting them out close to dusk. I also feed a feed called pigeon checkers. Great feed, pigeons love it so that the bird home fast and don't crap on the neighbors cars. Keeps every one happy and more importantly QUIET. If you have time, like now where you aren't using the pigeons alot you can lock them up for a couple months.

bmacinok wrote: I did keep them in the coop for a couple of months, then only let them out in the evening right before dark so they would only fly for a bit then come back in to roost. Probably did that for a month then started taking them out further and further to get them used to homing. I did lose a few, just not sure if it was to them not homing or the hawks which we have a lot of.

If you start producing young they will definitely home to your coop.

I would use a pigeon mix from your local feed store. A lot of folks use just whatever, but I found I had problems with cracked corn on the young, seems they can't handle the sharp edges in their craw.

This is also how I transition new birds. However, I go 3 to 4 months instead of just a couple.If they lay eggs I let them out sooner.If I get young birds, I like it when they still have some (very few) yellow feathers (I'm having a brain fart for the proper term so I will call them Yellow feathers) on them. They are old enough to take care of themselves and they will home back to your coop.

There are many different choices when it comes to pigeon food.I feed a pigeon food with corn in the cold months and without corn in the warm/hot months.